Trisha Yearwood Chicken Wild Rice Casserole

Update on the rat situation in my car! If you didn’t read yesterday’s post, I have been parking my car outside the garage since we have the bathroom project going on. A light came on so I took it to the dealer and they found a huge rat’s nest on the engine of my car. Thankfully, it’s all covered under insurance and I have a $100 deductible, so that’s a blessing. I got the report back from the insurance company and those rats did over $2300 worth of damage to my car. The entire wiring harness has to be replaced because they have chewed so many wires. So, just a cautionary tale. Be careful if you park a car outside. I had so many on Instagram tell me that they had this happen or their friends had it happen to them, so it must be happening a lot. We will definitely be getting proactive about this stuff because Mark drives my old car to work and it is parked on the driveway every night, so we don’t want this happening again. We are going to look into rat repellent stuff to deter them from our cars. Plus I sure don’t want them to get in our basement either. I hate nasty rodents! If you want to see a picture, go over to my Facebook page, it’s on that post. I hate to show ugly pictures on this post.

My roommate, Rhonda, shared with me it happened to a friend of her’s and it was squirrels. A search online indicates that some new cars are being made with wires covered in an insulated soy based material, which is attraching rodents. That makes more sense that this is happening a lot. I had no idea and I bet you didn’t either. Be aware! Here’s an article from a news network.

Back to my scheduled post…..

I promised I’d share recipes with y’all when I find some worth sharing and this is definitely worth sharing. My sister made it over the Christmas holidays and I tasted it and wow, is it good. I haven’t been making casseroles that much over the years, but this one is perfect for Winter comfort food, so I hope you’ll try it and let me know what you think. It’s probably not all that healthy, but it sure does taste good.

Her recipe is for a huge casserole dish, so I cut this one in half for us. I’m sure you could freeze it too if you wanted, but I find that casseroles get a little more dry once you reheat them again, so to keep it fresh, I only made 1/2 and that makes 2 meals for us, one meal and leftovers. I love to have some leftovers, but if I serve them too many times, my man rebels. If you’ve got a big family to feed, this would be perfect! I served it with a side salad.

It’s got some real ingredients and the rice mix is the only thing out of a box, so I’m glad it’s not a “cream of chicken soup” type recipe. I much prefer butter and half n half. It is so tasty, I think you’ll like it. Almonds give it a nice crunch.

My sister uses rotisserie chicken in hers but I cooked up some chicken tenders in my skillet and got those ready to chop up. There is a little prep involved, but once you put it in the dish to cook, it’s a one pot meal.

With fresh mushrooms (which we love), I knew I’d like this one. Sautee onions and mushrooms in butter.

Add flour and that’s what thickens it up.

Then comes the chicken broth and half and half.

Be sure and cook your wild rice mix ahead of time and it’s ready to go. I just used one box of wild rice and then halved all the other ingredients. The recipe calls for pimentos but I never have those, so I leave them out.

Once the sauce thickens up, then you pour it all together in a casserole dish and cook for about an hour. Follow the directions and you can’t go wrong.

Not a great picture, but this is coming out of the oven. I’m not a real food blogger because they stage everything to make it look perfect, but I just snap pics right before we eat to share my recipes.

It comes out of the oven slightly creamy and almost reminds of a risotto consistency. The flavors are so delicious and it really is comfort food. With a salad and even bread on the side, what a yummy meal.

I found the most delicious take and bake bread from Aldi, so I’m going to share it with you. I really try not to eat so much bread, because it’s just empty calories and carbs…blah, blah, blah, but I really love GOOD bread. This bread is an Italian bread and you put it in the oven and bake it for maybe 15 minutes, I think on 400°, but read the label if you get it. It is seriously SO delicious and it’s $1.39 for this big loaf. I just slice off enough for a meal and leave the rest in the fridge and it makes about 3 meals for us. It comes out crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. It’s SOOOOOO good…and I don’t rave about many things.

With real butter, don’t forget the real butter!

That’s it, I hope you’ll try this one if you haven’t already. It’s on our rotation now, when I find something that Mark loves too, it’s a keeper and he loves this one!

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Comments

Rhoda, There is a wonderful product on the market called FRESH CAB that is a deterrent for rodents. We use it exclusively in our RV and have had no problems since we started using it. It is almost like a potpourri sachet but it is filled with juniper and other essential oils. It is 100% guaranteed. I really love this product…no poison or chemicals, only natural ingredients. I am not a brand ambassador, just a happy user of the product. https://www.earthkind.com/fresh-cab/

Yum!!! This came today as I sit in Boston in a surprise February 73 degrees!! I will save this for I’m sure a freezing my you know what off day!! (Probably tomorrow!!) I think I’m going to grab an ice coffee!! 😉

Hi Rhoda, very sorry about rat damage to your car. I would call your story a cautionary tale. Rodents are everywhere even though we don’t realize it. Several years ago, one morning I went out to my car which was parked on the street. Had left a partially drunk mocha in the cupholder from the day before. When I went to remove it there was a dead mouse in the plastic cup. It had climbed into cup through the hole in the bubble top and drowned in the melted ice (water.) No idea how it got into car, since windows were rolled up. Very creepy. Beware!

Welcome! Thanks for stopping by! I'm Rhoda, from Atlanta, GA and I love decorating and DIY projects. Decorating a home doesn't have to cost a fortune and I've spent years thrifting at antiques markets and yard sales, finding those treasures that make a home unique. I'm here to inspire and encourage other women to find their own inner creativity. Won't you join me? More...